Capri2.8i wrote:
But surely the better the roads, the further people are prepared to travel? It's generally not the length in miles that is the deciding factor as to whether a commute(for example) is viable, but the length in time. Based on my own general observations it seems that about 1 hour is the maximum commute most people will be prepared to undertake. The more roads built, the further it is possible to travel in that hour.
Of course building a new road won't have an immediate effect. In the short-term people still live in the same houses and commute to the same jobs. However in the medium term when a house move, new job or career change maybe being considered, the fact that journey times have decreased to a particular area will be a factor.
I'm not anti-road building, I'm just not keen on unfettered road building for the same reasons Rhythem Thief has rased.
But what difference does it make if people travel further? The traffic level, and hence the congestion, in a particular area will still be the same.
True, more people might decide to travel to an already crowded area if the commute was a bit easier, but it also works the other way - people might decide instead to travel away from a crowded area but are stopped from doing so because of the length of the commute.
And even if you do end up with the same level of congestion at the end of the day, at least people would have more of a choice about where they live and work. They would not, for example, choose to stay in the same low-paid job, live in the same dodgy area, or live a huge distance from from family and friends just because the commute is easier.
From my perspective, the big difference the length of the commute makes to people's lives is the times they choose to travel. I'm on the road by 7AM in the morning, a good hour before I really need to be, in order to miss the worst of the congestion. If there were more and better roads, I might decide to have an hours more sleep in the morning. And there are probably millions of people in the same situation. Sure, at the end of the day, the congestion might be just as bad as more and more people change their commuting times, but at least they'll be getting more sleep.
I could possibly move closer to work, but then my wife would have a longer commute, and my son would have to be driven to school instead of walking as he does now. And the price of houses
And I probably would not choose to drive through a village and pi** off all the car-haters living there if there was a road bypassing said village.